Of Lunchboxes and mixed feelings
by Pirates on a Rave
Summary: Yusei Fudo generally dislikes school, but what he dislikes even more is a certain kuriboh-haired teen named Jaden Yuki. So what if he were to bump into Jaden while on his path to school? The day would obviously descend in quality a whole lot, especially since Jaden's friend Johan seems to hold an unreasonable grudge against him! So why do Yusei's feelings for Jaden keep escalating?


A young man was walking up the broad path leading to the Domino public school that autumn day. The man looked upon the clouded sky and let out a long and heavy sigh. His oddly spiked polychrome hair fluttered playfully in the chilly wind, and he cursed particularly nastily under his breath, attempting to brush his unruly bangs in place.

Yusei Fudo did certainly not enjoy autumn.

_Well,_ he thought and yanked his jacket collar with both hands to wrap it tighter around himself, _that's another thing to add to the 'things that Yusei dislikes'-list_.

And a damn long list that was.

Checking his wristwatch, Yusei entered the school ground by the immense metal gate in front of it. It was already half past seven. He frowned- this wouldn't be happening if only he'd been allowed to ride to school upon the back of his motorcycle. His precious, shiny, grease-smelling, perfectly lacquered motorcycle.

Oh, Yusei felt his whole being warm up at the mere recalling of the low, steady purring and growls of his bike as he kicked it-

Yusei blinked, his gaze sharpening remarkably as defense mechanisms in his body, such as clearer hearing, were triggered. He'd heard something-a rustling- perhaps a fellow late student? Rather dead that caught daydreaming about a vehicle, Yusei stuffed his gloved hands in his jeans pockets and continued walking to the main door of the school.

The sound emerged again, and again, and again. Yes, that was most definitely the sound of hurried footsteps mashing into moist ground, and it was coming closer to him. Yusei looked over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of his apparent classmate, but instead of an identification, he felt a sharp pain upon his forehead, and a bump that made him fall on bottom, hissing.

Today was not going well at all.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Came the voice of his aggressor, "I swear, didn't mean to run into ya!" The loud, boyish voice seemed vaguely familiar to Yusei, but as he didn't make a point of remembering his classmates' voices, he opened his eyes to behold the offender instead. But as soon as the identity had been, almost instantly, uncovered, Yusei groaned in exhaust and wished that he would have remained without this piece of knowledge.

No; Miss Fortune was certainly not smiling in his favour today.

The person who had bumped into him was, without doubt, Jaden Yuki. The obnoxious, loud and overall hyperactive boy from his class. Whoopsie fucking Doo. Jaden hadn't actually ever done anything that could be interpreted as bad to Yusei(or to anyone else for that matter...) but somehow, the boy's loud and constant peptalk, as well as his childish, innocent, naïve and gullible personality, altogether made the perfect cocktail of personality traits that made every breath Jaden Yuki took become a personal assault to Yusei Fudo's honour.

"It's fine", Yusei grumbled and rose from the ground, struggling to keep his balance. Jaden seemed to notice his physical discomfort, as he put a steady hand on Yusei's back to keep him in place. This caused unpleasant shivers to run through the wobble-legged teen, and he tried to push Jaden off of him with an abrupt hand motion, "I said I'm fine!"

"You sure you don't want help, Yusei?" Asked Jaden, his hand reaching for Yusei again, who flinched away and began walking towards the door again.

"Yes. Now if you don't mind, I don't like being late to class", he paused to open the door and added, "I don't like class at all."

"Oh! Neither do I!" Agreed Jaden, cheerful at finding something he and Yusei had in common. He ran inside to catch up with Yusei, who rolled his eyes when Jaden stood beside him yet again, "But... but being with friends sure is fun though!"

Yusei bit off the phrase '_You_ have friends?' as he realized that it was not only insensitive, it was untrue. Jaden had his best friend in class, that blue cotton-candy haired boy. Not the short one, but the tall Scandinavian one... Johan, was his name, right?

"Whatever", Yusei answered as dryly as possible, longingly eyeing the door to their classroom. But freedom was still about ten metres away in the narrow corridor- ten metres of conversation with Jaden Yuki.

"What do you think is fun, Yusei?" Asked Jaden curiously and leaned forward in a try to make eye-contact with Yusei, who negated this by staring even more intensely at the door.

"I like my motorcycle", Yusei said truthfully, and then he realized, that was probably his only personality trait. The only thing he did for fun, except maybe..."and, well, cardgames I guess."

"Cardgames on motorcycles?" Inquired Jaden with even more curiousity. The boy was now practically jogging after Yusei, who without noticing was walking considerably faster than usual, "that sounds fun, Yusei! What does your motorbike look like? Can I ride it sometime?"

"It's red", Yusei muttered, "and no." At last they had arrived at the classroom, and Yusei practically heard the Hallelujah chorus sing above him the moment he turned the metallic doorknob. The classroom was, as usual, crowded, and suddenly, every eye in it was nailed upon the two young men who'd just opened the door. Jaden's cotton-haired friend's face lit up amongst all the students, and he waved enthusiastically towards his friend. Jaden answered the gesture with equal emotion, but their friendly exchange was interrupted by the Miss loudly clearing her throat.

"Well; Fudo, Yuki, we were all rather expecting you... earlier."

"I overslept", Yusei said sheepishly and glanced at a corner of the room where his bench was located. "Especially you, Yusei", Miss Gardener's voice was dripping with ice-cold disappointment. When Miss Gardener used someone's first name, one knew it was bad news, "you, who shows so much promise... Frankly, I'm very... _disappointed_."

Yusei almost felt like backing away. The tension that word had created in the aula was so thick and unpleasant, even Jaden must have felt it.

"IS HE GOING TO BE PUNISHED, MISS?" Demanded Jack Atlas, who displayed his loud voice in a proud shout.

"Be quiet, Atlas", said the Miss calmly and turned to Jaden, "So, Yuki, how do you feel about all of this?"

"I feel very bad...", admitted Jaden with his lips in a full pout, kicking dust upon the floor with his left foot, "but! But, Miss, it's my fault that Yusei is late! I ran into him and prevented him from walking in his normal speed!"

Miss Gardener had always had a soft spot for friendship and its speeches, and her expression went milder at all, "That's very sweet of you, standing up for your friend like that, however...", She turned to Yusei again, her face as hard as titanium again, "I doubt that exchange took a whole hour."

Yusei swallowed saliva. He didn't know he'd been so late... He glanced at his wristwatch again. Still half past seven. Oh. It was broken. Typical.

"But it still took a good fifteen minutes!" Exclaimed Jaden, lying through his teeth. He waved his hand as if to prove his point, but Miss Gardener did not succumb to Jaden's sweet person; instead, she shook her head and pointed her finger to the hall outside.

"I'm sorry Yuki, Fudo", she explained, not sounding in the least bit sorry, "but you can't attend to this class. Instead, stay outside and think about what you've done."

Yusei growled and crossed his hands over his chest, but he went outside nonetheless. Jaden, on the other hand, tentatively followed the taller boy outside, casting nervous glances back at his bumchum Johan Andersen, who responded by looking abnormally pitiful.

Outside the classroom, they heard the muffled sound of Miss Gardener beginning to speak up again, as well as Jack Atlas answering to every question before she'd even uttered them. Yusei frowned deeply and leaned against the nearest wall, closing his eyes and inhaling slowly. Jaden mimicked his motion, and after a while, Yusei opened his left eye, just to see Jaden staring up at him with his big brown eyes, standing just beside him. Yusei winced and withdrew himself from Jaden quite a bit, flustered against his will.

He did in no way like it when people sought physical contact with him- it made him utterly uncomfortable.

"Why do you keep...!" Yusei hissed, stepping even further away from the caramel-haired teen, "why do you keep doing that!?"

"Do what Yusei?" Jaden wondered, tilting his head to the side.

"...Touching me! Coming close to me!" Said Yusei forcefully, and then, noticing Jaden's very much taken aback facial expression, he managed to collect his boiling self and continue in his usual matter-of-fact fashion, "I-I don't like it when people touch me."

Jaden looked as if he a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, in fact, it looked as thought he could have hugged Yusei right there, grinning widely as a gleeful child. "Oh, so that was it! I'm sorry, I didn't know!" Jaden laughed clapping his hands together, "oh, man I'm so relieved, I thought you didn't like me or something!"

_I don't,_ Yusei wanted to answer, but instead, he bit the inner flesh of his mouth to prevent him from speaking his mind. Jaden looked all too happy at that moment, and Yusei wasn't very eager upon the thought of dealing with a depressed Jaden.

"Well that's cool then!" Jaden said happily and reached out his hand. Yusei looked down at the offending hand, and then at Jaden, then he raised an eyebrow. Jaden immediately added sheepishly, "uh, I'd kinda hoped you'd shake it."

Yusei grimaced and looked down at the hand again, but shook it steadily nonetheless.

"To celebrate our newly formed friendship!" Jaden chirped, a statement which made Yusei almost choke on mere air.

"-Wha?"

"I'm really happy! Really, I always thought you were really cool Yusei, this is awesome!" Jaden babbled on, making Yusei's head throb and spin- he talked way too fast for Yusei's liking, "so, do you want to join me and Johan for lunch later?"

When Yusei was finished processing the information given to him, he felt a wave of confusion flood through him. Lunch together with other people was not really his style. He had, at some point of his early childhood, eaten lunch with Jack, but those days had come to an end as Jack nicked his favourite trading card during lunch break. Ever since then, social lunch had not been a very appealing option for Yusei. A

nd Jaden Yuki had certainly not been a very appealing person for Yusei, either. So lunch together with Jaden Yuki? Well, Yusei formed his thoughts calmly, he'd been very forced to decline such an offer. But even as his mind was forming the words 'thanks but no thanks', his physical self seemed to be answering all by itself, and Yusei was as surprised as the next man as he blurted out the words.

"Yes, why not?" Yusei felt as though his head had been hit by a bludgeon. Even though Jaden's now positively beaming face seemed to provoke some positive(or at least not completely despicable) feelings within him, most parts of his mind were invaded by such thoughts as why the hell did I just say that? Yusei felt all traces of blood being drained from his face, but then, in about one nanosecond, blood rushed to his face instead, and now he was blushing at his own stupidity.

"The more the merrier, right Yusei? Aww man that's solid", giggled Jaden as he jumped up and down on the spot, holding a paralyzed Yusei's hands in a dead man's grip, "sweet! What's your lunch?"

"...Omelets, bacon and fried shrimps", replied Yusei mechanically.

"I love fried shrimps!" Gasped Jaden and began skipping even faster, "so does Johan! This is gonna be the best lunch ever!"

"...I'm sure of it." Yusei's voice was still as hollow as a empty coconut shell, and frankly, he believed that if he were to talk more, he would succumb to freaking out and launch every insult known(and unknown) to man at the innocent person that was Jaden Yuki.

"Honestly, I do! You should've seen, there was this one time when I had eaten so many fried shrimps-"

"I don't care", muttered Yusei as response, because truly, he didn't.

"Don't be like that, Yus..." Pouted Jaden, fidgeting on the spot.

"I never said you could call me that", Yusei objected dryly. He had never liked cheerful people, and he wasn't going to start now.

Jaden by now, however, gave the impression of a hurt abandoned puppy dog, and Yusei noticed this quickly. He felt a pang of guilt inside him, because really, Jaden had done nothing to deserve cold treatment; except being so bloody cheerful.

"Are you sure you don't hate me?" Jaden asked gloomily, and this question surprised Yusei. Yes, he kind of hated Jaden Yuki, but also, Jaden _had_ tried to help him by standing up to him, and well, Yusei guessed, he kind of didn't hate Jaden Yuki too.

"I...", Yusei started, eyeing Jaden slowly, it was hard to keep fueling hate for something that was so harmless, so small, "I guess I..." Yusei sighed and scratched his ear, "No, I don't hate you. I couldn't."

These words caused a seemingly very positive reaction within the shorter boy, as he made a twirl in place and _almost_ hugged an unwilling Yusei, before remembering that body contact was no-good.

"Sorry", Jaden mumbled before baring his canines in a broad smile, "thank you for not hating me, Yusei!"

Yusei, for some reason, felt uneasy at the sight of a yet again beaming Jaden, and then, he had no idea what to say, he simply looked at the boy whose existance had offended him so many times, "yeah...", Yusei said, "thanks for defending me, in the classroom, I guess."

"It was nothing! I really like you Yusei, you're cool!"

_Why do you have to keep saying those things?_ Yusei thought and bit his lip from the inside. His cheeks were warming up, and that was no good- he wasn't the type to blush at any praise, none of this made sense, _it just gives wrong impressions..._

Startling both of them, the door to the classroom clicked open, and all of a sudden, the corridor flooded over with students who just had finished their lessons. Thick chit-chat between friends filled the air, and soon, a familiar blue-haired punk erupted from the crowd.

"Johan!" Jaden beamed and rushed over to hug his friend, who answered by hugging him back just as happily. However, Yusei noticed, this Johan Andersen seemed much more flustered about the act than the calm and natural Jaden,

"Johan it's so good to see you, Yusei's joining us for lunch!" They pulled away, and Yusei, who hadn't any interest in befriend Jaden, much less his cotton-haired bumchum, eyed Johan tiredly.

"Apparently..." Yusei began, thinking very hard and almost giving the impression that he was chewing a chunk of meat, "Jaden invited me", Yusei explained and pinched the bridge of his nose rather indifferently, even though he inwardly was as confused as he'd been just moments ago.

"Oh, well...", Johan began, and if Yusei didn't know better, he'd assume that the blue-haired lad was... glaring at him? But that couldn't be; Johan would have no possible reason to object, figured Yusei,

"Oh well, that's cool."

"Isn't it? Yusei's just the coolest!" Cooed Jaden and positioned his fingers into a Churchill-style "V" gesture, "and now he's friends with us!"

"The coolest, huh?" Johan repeated a bit too blank for it to remain unsuspicious in Yusei Fudo's sharp eyes. Johan did the same thing that Jaden had done, and offered his hand to Yusei, who had gotten used to the gesture and gripped it back.

What he hadn't been expecting, was the fact that this Johan Andersen squeezed his hand hard. Really hard. Yusei felt the bones in his hand and fingers press painfully against each other as the Scandinavian boy utterly crushed Yusei's hand. Used to his body members being hurt from working in a garage on every spare time he had, he maintained a perfectly blank poker face as Johan Andersen damaged his hand for lifetime.

Finally, Johan Andersen let go, and the sight was quite disturbing. Even Jaden must have noticed that Yusei's hand was considerably swollen and red, but if he did, the kuriboh-head showed no sign of it. The newly formed trio then proceeded to authomatically go to their next class- chemistry.

And somehow, Jaden had managed to persuade Yusei into sitting next to them during the teacher's babbling. Time ticked by, Johan and Jaden spoke of irritating and cheerful things and Yusei simply sat there and wished himself to be with his motorcycle instead. But as hours went, there was something that deeply intrigued Yusei. Johan Andersen hadn't stopped glaring at him, not even for a second.

At first, Yusei had been under the impression that maybe he was just in a bad mood. But it had soon proven to be otherwise, as Johan Andersen completely beamed and shone towards every person that was not Yusei- he was acting like the most amiable person on the face of the earth! And apparently, his grudge towards Yusei ran deep, as he had attempted to throw a bottle containing battery acid at him. Yusei had noticed this, and with his sharp instincts, he had managed to duck away just in time.

A hole had been burnt in the wall. These assaults, such as trying to poke Yusei's eye out with a pencil, had continued all the way to lunch, and Yusei thought they must have come to an unofficial truce upon entering the crowded, thickly-smelling restaurant-like room.

The three young men took a seat upon nearest table and took up their lunch boxes in unison. Jaden's lunchbox was the most noticeable of the three, partly because it was coloured in bright pink, and partly because of its effeminate princess pattern.

It was also the largest of the three, but as soon as he opened it, it became clear that Jaden hadn't at all stuffed his box full- inside the massive portable fridge there was only a lonely bacon sandwich. Yusei opened his box and glanced inside.

It was enough food for him, and that was enough. He grabbed a plastic fork and stuffed a piece of omelet in his mouth; his cooking left much to be desired, and it was overall too salty, but at least it was food.

"You have lots of food, Yusei!" Jaden pointed out dreamingly, glancing shyly at his own tiny sandwich, "and it looks really good, man, I mentioned I love fried shrimps, didn't I?"

"Yes you did", Yusei answered tiredly and swallowed the omelet bite, "but it doesn't taste nearly as good as it looks."

"Oh I'm sure it does!" Protested Jaden and turned to Johan for support, "don't y'agree, Johan?"

"Yeah, I'm sure Yusei's a great cook", Johan replied with a fake smile on his face. Yusei narrowed his eyes- he had no idea what this Johan had against him, but it wasn't going to bloody ruin his lunch.

"I live in an apartment with Cyrus, y'know, so he's usually the one who cooks. Since he's sick I had to make my own, and well...", Jaden trailed off and looked positively sheepish, scratching his forehead, "you see how that went, I can only make bacon sandwiches, and I'm pretty sure the bacon is half-raw."

"Don't be modest Jaden, I'm sure you're just as fine a cook as Yusei is", Johan objected, but it didn't seem at all like he was complimenting Yusei as much as he was cheering Jaden up.

"I wish I was a better one, though, my omelets are usually way too salty", Yusei said quietly.

Yusei didn't quite know why he felt like sharing this piece of information with this particular assembly of gentlemen, but he somehow felt more open with loud, obnoxious Jaden Yuki than with anyone else- perhaps because Jaden would still think he was cool whatever he'd tell him.

"No way, I'm sure they're perfect, man!"

"Maybe you should taste a bit, Jaden", recommended Johan, with a smile in his voice and on his mouth but with a venomous glare directed at Yusei, who responded by an especially rude hand gesture under the table. Jaden turned his head to face his best friend and smiled happily,

"Yeah, I should!" Yusei didn't really see how exactly Jaden would try his omelet since the last piece was being devoured by him at the moment, but didn't care. However, Jaden seemingly noticed a chunk of egg hanging out of Yusei's mouth gap as the boy chewed, and Jaden yanked the situation as any normal kid would do.

He pressed his mouth to Yusei's to get a proper taste of the omelet.

The world seemed still.

It took Yusei about one second to actually get a grip on the situation, but even as he felt Jaden's moist lips being pushed to his own, he had a very hard time believing any of this to be real.

Yusei suddenly felt awkward tingles, like electric jolts, run through his body in a most pleasant way- his stomach didn't seem to be acting normally either; he was struck by a feeling similar of the one you get when you just dived underwater, in a state of daze and blurry vision.

His fingers, some of which were still aching from Johan Andersen's assault, seemed to have developed a most unnerving itch, and suddenly he had no idea what to do with his hands.

Jaden Yuki, the utterly obnoxious, annoying, childish, naïve, gullible, cheerful idiot, was kissing him full on the lips.

And Yusei had a very hard time processing that. Suddenly, as Jaden bit off a chunk of omelet, tracing Yusei's bottom lip with his tongue in the process, Yusei's mind seemed to be darting off other words other than Yusei's usual vocabulary to describe Jaden Yuki. Adorable, sweet, kind, gentle, caring... And Yusei had no idea what to make out of it all.

What he mostly would've liked to do, that'd be fainting on the spot. But life usually wasn't all that kind, especially not if your name begins with Y and ends with usei Fudo.

Jaden pulled away after another second, now with yellow piece of omelet between his lips.

Yusei, whose mind seemed to be suffering from comatose-like symptoms, was shocked over the fact that Jaden remained just the same as usual. The boy was chewing the food thoughtfully, and he seemed to remain indifferent to the fact that he'd just kissed someone, not just anyone, but a guy too!

There wasn't the slightest trace of a blush upon Jaden's milky skin, however Yusei was positive that his face was now the colour of a ripe beet. Out of the corner of his eye, he took a peek of Johan who was sitting opposite him.

The cotton-haired bloke seemed just as confused as Yusei, or even more, with the slight difference that this boy, on the contrary of Yusei, seemed to boil with fury. His brows were furrowed, his gaze was cold and deadly, his teeth were tightly gritted and his fists were clenched into tight orbs upon the table.

Yusei felt quite the bit uncomfortable with the fact that Johan Andersen also clutched a knife in his right hand.

"Well", started Jaden, breaking the titanium-solid tension somewhat, "it _is_ a bit salty, but I like salt, so it's really fine! I really liked it!"

_...The omelet?_ Thought Yusei. He wasn't sure he liked this feeling- his ears were increasing in warmth as well. But he wouldn't deny that he enjoyed that stirring sensation in the pit of his stomach- it was kind of tickeling. Neither Johan or Yusei said anything, but since Jaden was looking at them with that expectative look of his, well, Yusei cleared his throat and tried to collect the words. "...Thank you", his voice came out thick and restrained, but Jaden didn't seem to notice, "I'm glad you enjoy my... c-cooking."

Jaden let out a giggle which could easily be compared to the one of mischievous schoolgirl, and then he took a bite out of his own sandwich, "You should bring food with ya tomorrow as well, then we can share more!" The boy announced, making Yusei tense ever more, "I can try your food, you go with Johan's, Johan goes with mine! Awesome, ain't it?"

"...Lovely, Jaden", Johan spoke, and Yusei almost felt as if the boy had slapped him across the face- his voice held so much venom that Yusei became afraid that he'd poison his food.

Then, it hit Yusei. It hit him full on the back of his skull, so hard that it might break if it actually were a physical object and not a thought; The reason for which Johan Andersen hated him so deep. Everything seemed to fit- the fact that he hadn't despised him before, that when he heard that Jaden had become friends with Yusei, he had attempted to tear off his limb; it all fit together neatly like the pieces of a puzzle.

Johan Andersen was jealous of Yusei Fudo.

Every murderous glance Johan had casted upon Yusei, it was all for the purpose of warning him to stay away from his territory! Yusei wasn't sure whether this was being an overprotective friend, or if the cause of this was homoerotic interest.

But seeing as he had reacted upon the contact of lips Yusei and Jaden had shared, it would all rather point towards the latter of the two, both quite alarming, options. Yusei turned his head fully to face Johan, and there was no mistake- in the Scandinavian's eyes was a reptilliac look. Yusei hadn't been surprised if he started hissing too. But, Yusei had decided, there was no way that was scaring him.

He was Yusei Fudo, he couldn't possibly become frightened by an overreacting teen. Instead, Yusei returned the look first with an expression equally as fierce, but only as brief as to only Johan noticing it; Jaden remained oblivious to the tension between the two, as Yusei quickly changed his face to a most pleasant mask.

"Yes, I think so too, I'll be delighted to savour your cooking, Johan", he said in a most false tone of voice.

Johan played along fairly well, and he too flashed his most toothy grin, "Ah, but I'm not nearly as good as Yusei", Jaden didn't notice the double meaning of these words, but Yusei took them up fast- he wondered how Jaden could remain so unknowing of the situation, and that brought his mind as to why Johan had flipped in the first place.

Yusei took a sharp intake of breath.

Jaden had kissed him. His mind was trailing back into that not-so-witty area again, the area which he had been desperate to avoid. The apparent mutual feeling of hatred between him and the cotton-haired chap had provided enough distraction as to get his mind off of a certain pair of very wet lips, but now, the vision came flooding back like a river in spring.

"Then, Yusei, will you be eating with us tomorrow as well?" Jaden asked hopefully, leaning closer to Yusei's face.

A bit too close for Yusei's(and most probably Johan's) comfort. Yusei winced visibly and almost fell off his chair, his eyes wide and his gaze flickering for a spot to lay itself on that was not a part of Jaden's persona.

"Will you?" Jaden repeated, puppy-eyed and with a wobbly under lip. It didn't help at all that Jaden was coming closer to Yusei's torso either; Yusei tried to form a sentence that made sense, any sentence! But none was occurring to him, and he was afraid that, if he said the wrong thing, Jaden would see how nervous he was.

Why was he nervous? He had no idea, he only knew that his heart was skipping too many beats altogether, and that Jaden's leg was brushing warningly against his outer thigh.

"I..." Began Yusei, but his voice cracked in a fairly alarming fashion, so instead of speaking up, he began coughing violently. Jaden, as the kind soul he was, began patting Yusei's back roughly with the intention of helping his newly found friend.

"Hey!" Jaden exclaimed worriedly, "watch it Yusei, it's no good to eat too fast!" For reasons unknown, this gesture caused Yusei to feel even less at ease, and he rose from the table abruptly, unwillingly shaking Jaden off in the process.

"I have to leave", Yusei mumbled before escaping the scene fast, running like a madman out of the restaurant area. Jaden and Johan were left dumbfounded, awestruck by their brand new friend's escapade extravaganza, and Jaden pouted as he looked down and noticed Yusei had left his boxed lunch behind.

"Yusei's a really weird guy", Jaden declared and folded his arms over his chest, he looked over his shoulder to see the last glimpse of Yusei's jeans jacket before it disappeared behind the corner of the hallway, "he's always acting so weird. But at least..." Jaden stopped and gave a small laughing sound. Happily, he twirled some strands of hair around his finger and grinned widely at Johan, "he's our friend now! Aren't you happy, Johan? I sure am!"

The state of emotion Johan Andersen currently was in was no state one would or could typically describe as "happy", but he simply nodded eagerly, masking his enraged face with his bouncing aqua locks, "Wow, Jaden, you must really", Johan paused and bit his tongue before continuing, "like Yusei, huh?"

"Man do I like him!" Jaden agreed and put his arms behind his head to rest upon them, "he's a really cool guy! And he has a motorcycle! I like him a lot!"

A muscle in Johan's jaw twitched, but on the other hand, he did know that Jaden was the type of person who always told people how much he loved or liked them.

Johan couldn't spill his feelings to people with Jaden's facility, but he hoped he'd made it clear enough that he hated Yusei Fudo.

Yusei Fudo was an intruder in the relationship he was forming with Jaden, that was for sure; Johan did not like him at all; What, did he think that he could butt in and become best friends with Jaden? No, it was definitely Johan who was Jaden's best friend forever, and Yusei better keep his dirty mechanics' nose out of their delicate relationship. And then, that kiss...

No, Johan decided, that could hardly even be described as a kiss.

It was just the ever-so-innocent Jaden who had pressed his lips to Yusei's and licked them for a while. _Isn't that what most people call a kiss? _An unwanted part of his mind informed him quite coldly, but Johan chose to ignore that.

Jaden had only wanted to taste Yusei's omelet, that was no kiss at all! But it angered him nonetheless. Jaden had never even placed his mouth anywhere close to any part of Johan's body, in any situation, so why should he kiss that boring arse Yusei Fudo?

All that guy ever did was ride his motorcycle or scold Jack Atlas. And, apparently, butt into relationships. Now there weren't just Jaden and Johan, no, now Yusei was involved as well, and Johan didn't like this at all. They had always been a duo, being a trio wasn't a thought that ever had occurred to any of them, never!

Still, it wasn't as usual anymore. Before, Jaden had been Johan's, Johan had been Jaden's, it was as simple as that. That wasn't the case any more. Jaden seemed far too interested in Yusei Fudo for it to be good news.

"I wonder what happened to him, maybe he's sick", Jaden said worriedly and looked over his shoulder again as if hoping to see a pikachu-haired teen with jeans jacket approaching. No such luck, "what if he's puking all over the floor or something? That'd be like, the worst day ever."

"I think he talks too little", Johan informed casually, just to see how Jaden reacted.

Jaden chuckled at this and nodded. "But he's nice though", Jaden assured and rose from the table as well. He put his pink lunchbox back into his backpack, and grabbed Yusei's half-eaten lunch as well. Johan arched an eyebrow at this gesture, to which Jaden answered with the usual goofy smile on his face, "now, we oughta get this to him, right?"

Yusei pressed his whole body against the inside wall of the men's restroom and let his whole being relax against the damp tile of the wall. Pressing his palms to his face, he let out a long, frustrated and muffled groan.

It vibrated through the walls, and while he let his emotions out this way, he slid down until he sat fully on the floor, no caring that it was utterly soiled with liquids of various origins. Many a thought flooded through his head, such as why he was so weak? He was weak in the knees, weak in the chest, weak in every corner of his mind, every fiber of his being! Every part of him seemed to be made of gelatin, and it started shivering at the slightest touch, namely, the touch of Jaden Yuki.

His tongue had seemed to glue itself to the ceiling of his mouth, and it was pressing backwards all by itself. His chest seemed to be stuck in an invisible fisherman's hook, which was yanking his heart until it quaked violently.

Throb. Throb.

Veins, his heart, his head, everything was throbbing at the same time, orchestrating a piece of symphony he had no interest in hearing. He tried covering his ears, but it didn't help, he closed his eyes, but his mind's eye was fixated upon the moment were Jaden's lips met his

"Stop...", he moaned hoarsely, he wanted his mind to stop projecting those images; there must be a logical explanation for all of this! His crotch was acting odd too, tingeling in a way which made Yusei cross his legs hastily to prevent any type of reaction. This wasn't happening. It couldn't.

Against his will, his brain seemed to be trying to communicate with him in gentle whispers, telling him all that he didn't want to hear.

All that was true.

Breath was caught in his throat, and he inwardly hoped that maybe, if he couldn't breathe properly, he could just drop dead right there, that way he wouldn't have to face anyone. Jaden Yuki. He cursed once, twice, and yanked his hair hard as if to punish himself. He hit the back of his head against the wall. It hurt, but it didn't hurt nearly as much as his chest did. It seemed as though he was suffocating, his insides were turned inside and out, no, he wanted this no more. Opening his mouth slightly, against his will, his body had began showing him images of what could have had happened if he'd kissed back.

His tongue twirled in his mouth, caressing his own teeth, and then licking his lips, he felt his mouth water, and he swallowed. Throb. Throb. No. He wasn't. He couldn't be.

He dug his nails to his neck, trying to calm down, but he couldn't. His body felt warm, uncomfortably warm, and his fingers seemed to long to caress a certain caramel-haired boy's soft flesh...

Yusei felt like screaming, but he slapped a hand over his mouth to stop the noise from erupting. He breathed hard and fast against his hand and shut his eyes tight.

"Yo, Yusei, you okay in there?"

Crow. Yusei collected his voice and swallowed what felt like daggers to answer his old mate,

"...yes, stomach's acting up, but I'm fine."

"You've been there for half an hour, we were starting to worry", Crow told him through the metallic door, and Yusei felt blood being succionated from his face- half an hour?

"Especially since you seemed so devastated when you ran in here."

"YEAH YUSEI WE WORRIED ABOUT YOU" Declared Jack, "CROW THOUGHT YOU WERE VOMITING BLOOD. I TOLD HIM NOT TO BE SILLY."

"Jack, Yusei perhaps doesn't want the whole school to find out!" Hissed Crow at his friend's annoyingly loud tone of voice.

Find out...? Yusei sighed, he wanted to find out himself what was wrong with him. Why he so badly felt like he had to be close to Jaden. Why it'd be a crime if he wasn't,

"You did well. I didn't vomit at all, Crow." But that statement perhaps should be taken back, because Yusei truly felt like spilling out his lunch. His lunch. No, he told himself strictly, don't think about it. But it was hard not to, it was so very hard, and nobody understood him. He was alone in this battle, fighting a full-out war against himself.

"SEE? HE'S FINE CROW", said Jack triumphantly, "I TOLD YOU!"

"Are you really fine, Yus?" Crow asked, apparently unconvinced with this performance, "come out so that we can see you."

"...I'm fine, really", Yusei lied, his voice way too hollow for it to sound natural. There was no way he could open himself about all of this, no. And he wasn't coming out, either. No, in fact, he would stay in the men's restroom for the rest of his lifetime, yes; that was exactly what he was going to do.

"Why aren't you coming out, then?" Crow's words rang true and clear, but Yusei couldn't, wouldn't answer.

He was still trying to figure the answer out himself, but every answer his subconscious provided him with was unsatisfactory, and Yusei hoped, false.

"What's going on, is Yusei there?"

Yusei felt his whole body suddenly weigh about three times more, and he feared to start hyperventilating. No, not that. Not him. Not like this. He heard the conversation he was excluded from between his friends, and suddenly, he felt as if he was a little brat hiding form his parents

. "Oh, Jaden, yeah he's there", Crow said, and Yusei could only pray for what was coming next. For every word spoken, he felt his body tense up considerably.

"HE DOESN'T WANNA COME OUT THOUGH."

"Why not?" Asked Jaden with a worried tone of voice, a tone that made Yusei feel like he was the most horrible, predatory man ever known to existence for the horrible act of once hating that voice.

"You ask him", Crow answered tiredly, and so did Jaden indeed.

Yusei felt his tongue knot itself- he wasn't ready to talk to Jaden, and he would certainly not be ready anytime soon. His fingers started tapping the floors feverently; _Well, talk! _Commanded his mind, but instead, Yusei shut his mouth harder.

He had so many things he wanted to tell Jaden, but he didn't know how to start, he couldn't even find the first word. Everything was a blinding fuzz of colours, and he almost felt like fainting. His throat was so dry, too... And Jaden's lips were so wet.

"I", started Yusei, whose panic was starting to show in his voice, "I don't feel like coming out right now! My stomach's not so well!"

"Yus, you're sitting on the floor, we can see your jacket."

Fuck. Damn. Fuck and damn. Fuck and damn it all to hell in a hand basket.

"YOU SHOULD COME OUT YUSEI", voiced Jack and knocked on the door slightly, "IT'S NO GOOD TO HIDE IN A CLOSET LIKE THAT."

...Hiding in a closet? Yusei felt his heart freeze at the ambiguous meaning of those words. And then, as though the ice of his heart had broken, it started beating with double speed instead, though it was a weird pace, an odd pace that didn't belong with him. He didn't want his heart anymore, no sir, somebody else could take it.

Preferably Jaden, because... Because...

His mind told him no, every piece of him that made sense said no, but the vast majority of his body, the part that he had no control over, was screaming yes, by gods; yes.

And that was damn well what he was going to do

"It's not even a closet, Jack."

"It does look like one from outside, though", said Johan, who had remained quiet during this whole exchange.

"I'm coming out", informed Yusei, and with fairly weak kneecaps, he managed to stand up accordingly. He inhaled deeply and prayed to the gods that he was making the right choice as he unlocked the door. At once, people filled the narrow chamber and started flocking around Yusei, to which he was completely perplexed, confused.

"Yusei, man, we thought you had gone into some sort of depression!" Told Crow as he patted his taller friend's shoulder comfortingly. Yusei nodded towards him, but his eyes were searching for something other than Crow's wild red mane.

What his mind feared most of all, the confirmation he needed. He found it almost instantly. Behind Jack's tall body, which was engaging in some bizarre victorious pose, and behind Johan's narrowed eyes and deep frown, was a star that shone so much brighter than the others. Jaden's brownish hair was in quite the mess from running, and his nose and cheeks were tinted with the most adorable shade of pink Yusei had ever seen on a person.

He was smiling brighter than the sun, so to speak, and it wasn't an especially appealing smile, not like Akiza's heavenly white womanly smile, no; it was a most tired grin, and Yusei was even quite sure that there was a piece of bacon stuck between his teeth, but to Yusei at the moment, that smile felt like the trigger that set of a nuclear explosion within him.

Most definitely,

he was in love with Jaden Yuki.

Jaden rushed forward and threw his arms around Yusei's neck, nuzzling his face against the crook of the mechanic's shoulder, and Yusei did nothing to stop him.

"I came", squeaked Jaden against Yusei's jacket, "to give you your lunchbox, but then Crow said that you'd locked yourself up!"

Yusei wanted to speak, but his mouth was covered by chocolaty straws of hair- he almost felt like sneezing.

"BUT NOW HE'S THE SAME YUSEI WE KNOW AND LOVE", Declared Jack and clapped his hands together with glee.

"Same old Yus", agreed Crow and nodded in satisfaction.

"Maybe we should get to class", Johan announced dryly.

Yusei had completely forgotten about him, so he looked up from Jaden's hair. Johan looked as if he was about to throw the lunchbox in his hand at Yusei, to which Yusei responded by his cockiest smile. Somehow, his hand had made its way to Jaden's back, and feeling particularly brave, he visibly patted it, intentionally annoying Johan in the process.

"Johan is right, we should get going", said Yusei softly, pulling away from Jaden. "Love ya, Yusei", Jaden smiled happily.

These three words were words that Yusei wanted to hear more than anything, especially from this person, but he also knew that Jaden didn't mean them at all in the way that he'd have wished for. Still, it made his heart race fast and furiously, and over him was washed a feeling of absolute bliss. It disappeared as soon as he noticed the looks Jack and Crow were giving him, though, and he quickly composed himself, his cheeks the colour of cherries.

"Yeah"; he mumbled and tried to play it off with the world-wide manly gesture of a slap on the back, "me too man."

Crow still looked fairly suspicious, but said nothing.

"Hey, Johan!" Called Jaden and cocked his head to a side to get a better look of his other best friend, "wanna hug too?"

Johan looked startled upon the thought of going anywhere near Yusei, but Yusei supposed that he, as himself, swallowed his pride with thorns and all when it came to a certain naïve chap. He shrugged, trying to look indifferent- but Yusei noticed his dusky pink cheeks.

With a sudden movement, Jaden had thrown himself around the two of them, pressing his cheeks to each side of Johan's and Yusei's faces. Both men blushed scarlet, and as Jaden started announcing different messages and declarations of eternal friendship, they looked at each other, their gazes holding equal hatred for one another. And thus, for the first time, as Jaden was too busy enjoying the moment, what they felt for each other was worded for the first time.

"You think you're special to him, don't you?" Hissed Johan, just above a breath. Yusei grinned grimly.

"Certainly more special than you", he whispered back, to which Johan growled deeply.

"SHOULD WE NOT GET GOING?" Wondered Jack, and apparently, Jaden agreed, because he let go of the two men he had had a grip of, physically and emotionally, to run outside the men's restroom. That boy was too energetic for his own good, that he was. But Yusei felt, every part of him felt, that it might not be so bad after all.

Sighing, he ran his hand through his spiky polychrome hair, yes, miss Fortune certainly had a nick for cruel games, he decided as he began running after Jaden Yuki, the obnoxious, innocent, naïve, gullible and absolutely irresistible bastard.


End file.
